July 8

Acts 26

 

Today our nation is in mourning. It is a profoundly sad day for America. Evil has broken out in our country again. Again we are faced with the question of why?  Why have two more black men died at the hands of the police and why are five police families mourning in Dallas? One of the eye witnesses in Dallas asked a reporter, "What do we do next?" She did not have an answer.

 

But the Apostle Paul has the answer to that question in our reading today.

Acts 26:17-18  I am sending you to them  to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.

The most important word in the Bible is "Gospel." It means good news.  The gospel is our hope for change in America. Christianity is not about creeds and traditions.  Christianity is about a person, Jesus. Because Jesus is alive He can change individuals and nations. No one has to stay locked up in prison to hatred and rage. We can change and experience healing and freedom. We can change. That's the gospel.

 

This gospel is the only hope for people to change from the inside out. Here is the truth about America. We have turned our backs on God. We have told God we don't want Him interfering with our prejudices, our families, our sexuality, our policing, our governing, our race relationships, our violent entertainment, our selfishness, and even our churches. The result of this defiance is the chaos and the evil that has broken out in our nation.

Sunday Kenny so powerfully shared with us that justice means, "if you see something, do something."  You cannot remain silent at this moment in time. Each one of us must speak up and tell the story that Jesus is not in a tomb but he is alive and he wants to bring healing to our lives and our country. That is the only hope for America.

Our mission today is the same as the Apostle Paul's many years ago, to bring the light of the gospel into the current darkness. It is only the gospel that can turn people away from the power of Satan to the power of God.

This is our mission on this dark day in our country's history.

 

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"Multiplying leaders to change the world"